The Best Part 2: Us
Many things are the worst. This is my attempt to find the things that are the best.
I promise this won’t always be music related.
‘Us’ by Regina Spektor is the best song that tangentially hints at the cliches we associate with love.
Love is eternal (“They made a statue of us”).
Love is exhibitionist (“Now tourists come and stare at us”)
Love is to blame (“They’ll…later say it’s all our fault”)
Love is immature (“They’ll give us a talking to, because they’ve got years of experience”)
Love is stolen (“We’re living in a den of thieves”)
Love is contagious (“And it’s contagious”)
Love is death (“We wear our scarves just like a noose”)
Or maybe not! (“But not cause we want eternal sleep”)
Love is, still, contagious (“And it’s contagious”, over and over again).
This…pawing…at the themes of love say nothing about what love really is. And that’s the point.
It’s a song about someone falling in love who’s never fallen in love before. Regina and her lovely voice evoke the childlike delight of someone trying to express a wonderful new feeling. Because until you’ve experienced the real thing (and maybe even after you’ve experienced it), all there is to say is cliche, to describe an indescribable.
For your pleasure:
